• Loading stock data...
Friday, May 30, 2025

You May Dislike the Pro Bowl Games. But Perhaps Reconsider Your KPIs

  • The NFL’s runaway popularity has a very notable exception: the Pro Bowl.
  • But, the league’s objectives go far beyond simply drawing a mass television audience.
Feb 1, 2024; Orlando, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) participates in the NFL Pro Bowl Skills Competition at the UCF NIcholson Fieldhouse.
Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
Exclusive

The CW Eyes More Bowl Games Amid Push Into Live Sports

The CW has gone from 0 to 40 million live sports viewers.
Read Now
May 29, 2025 |

The NFL on most fronts is a runaway train of popularity, particularly in the past year, posting one television audience increase after another, elevating its attendance numbers, and now enjoying the further boost of Taylor Swift’s megawatt stardom.

There has been a rather notable exception to that lofty standing: the NFL’s all-star game. 

Previously known as the Pro Bowl, the event languished for years as a traditional tackle football game with little in the way of genuine tackling, and one of its defining features was which stars skipped the event as opposed to who actually played. Fans registered their displeasure with steadily lower ratings, and the 2022 game’s average draw of 6.7 million was just 40% of the NFL’s normal regular-season draw that season. Even commissioner Roger Goodell voiced that broad feeling of unhappiness, bluntly saying in May ’22, “The game doesn’t work. We need to find another way to celebrate the players.”

In response, the league soon moved in radical fashion and dramatically remade the Pro Bowl into the Pro Bowl Games, a multiday event featuring skills competitions and highlighted by a flag football game featuring NFL all-stars. That shift did not immediately produce a larger audience, with the debut Pro Bowl Games in 2023 sinking another 7.5%, to an average of 6.2 million.  

Undeterred, the league is back with the second iteration of the Pro Bowl Games, with Sunday’s seven-on-seven flag football game capping off an event that includes several format tweaks for 2024, perhaps most notably the introduction of a tug-of-war competition that gives a new spotlight to often-overlooked linemen and somewhat recalls the made-for-TV Superstars series that peaked in the 1970s.

So what exactly is the purpose of the Pro Bowl Games?

Like many other major league all-star events, the Pro Bowl Games carry a series of NFL business objectives that go far beyond simply drawing a mass television audience. Among them:

  • Providing an additional marketing platform for corporate sponsors
  • Advancing other league grassroots and participatory programs, such as flag football, which has now risen to Olympic status
  • Reaching younger fans, particularly through social media
  • Showcasing the league’s top talent, which can later manifest in other revenue lines, such as merchandise sales 
  • Gathering players in a much more relaxed setting than the typical, high-pressure cadence of the NFL schedule

“This is an amazing opportunity [for players] to have that level of camaraderie and brotherhood after a long-fought season and be there with their families,” Matt Shapiro, NFL vice president of event strategy and integration, tells Front Office Sports. “There are a lot of social moments, but also a lot of competitive moments. When fans tune in, there’s absolute fun being had, but there’s no doubt that a competitive streak also comes out.”

Not Alone

The NFL’s continued reshaping of the Pro Bowl Games is thematically similar to what several other major leagues are doing to reinvigorate their all-star games. The NBA is returning to a traditional, conference-based game format. The NHL, which just concluded its Feb. 1–3 All-Star weekend, reverted to a player-led draft system previously used in 2011–12 and ’15. And MLB now stages its annual draft in conjunction with its all-star festivities, and the league has bulked up the production level of that event.  

Those shifts form a response to many of the same issues the NFL has faced in recent years, including declining ratings, player participation issues, and a struggle to find a balance between injury prevention and on-field competitiveness. 

“We’re sending mixed signals,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN. “And if we want guys to treat this like a real game … we have to treat it that way.”

The NFL, not surprisingly, is paying close attention to those endeavors, even as the league still is in a rather different situation, holding the Pro Bowl Games at the tail end of its season, whereas the other games exist as midseason showcases.

“There’s certainly been observation of what everybody is doing, connections across the board,” Shapiro says. “It’s about observing best practices, trying to learn. There are similarities, for sure, but also significant differences in what the play, the competition looks like across all these leagues. So each league is definitely trying to work through what’s best for their players and their fans.”

Youth Movement

It’s not a Nickelodeon alt-cast or a Toy Story–themed production, but the youth audience is squarely in the crosshairs of the NFL and media partner ESPN for the Pro Bowl Games. 

Similar to last year, Sunday’s broadcast will feature a simulcast on Disney XD in addition to the core presentation on sister networks ESPN, ESPN+, and ABC. Broadcast access will extend far beyond regular-season and playoff norms, and quarterbacks will wear microphones. So, too, will AFC and NFC coaches Peyton and Eli Manning. Many of the individual skills competitions and top moments from the flag football competition will also be cut up extensively for social media distribution.

“This event is really built for social,” Shapiro says. “It’s seeing players’ personalities, helmets off, getting to a couple of different practices [in addition to the competitions], the great content of players coming together. So that is a big piece of this whole thing.”

Such tactics paid off last year as the initial Pro Bowl Games skills competition last year, airing on a Thursday night, drew double-digit percentage audience increases in the overall ages 18–34 group, and males within that demographic, compared to a Pro Bowl skills event held in 2022. And ESPN is looking for an even bigger boost this year. 

Initial figures for this year give the network some additional hope. Thursday’s Pro Bowl Games skills competition drew an average audience of 1.14 million, up 8% and the best figure for that part of the event since 2018. More dramatically, the broadcast grew 40% year-over-year among the ages 2-17 demographic, and 34% in the ages 12-17 group.

“This is an event that allows us to build deeper relationships with NFL fans, particularly the younger ones,” Tim Reed, ESPN vice president of programming, tells FOS. “Between the format of this event and the type of access we can provide, it’s definitely not the type of production you see in an ordinary NFL week. So we certainly see this as something that provides a unique set of benefits.”

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

French Open Scheduling Sparks Backlash Over Women’s Time Slots

Coco Gauff has also said the French Open schedule could be improved.

Chiefs, Royals Stadium Plans Hit Political Wall As Both Parties Say No

Both Republicans and Democrats in Missouri oppose public funding for stadiums.
Zion Williamson
breaking

Zion Williamson Accused of Rape and Abuse in Lawsuit

The woman says their relationship began when he was at Duke in 2018.

Featured Today

How the Champions League Anthem Took on a Life of Its Own

The composer didn’t know he wrote a timeless hit three decades ago.
May 25, 2025

How Rolex Paved the Way for Luxury’s Love Affair With Tennis

“It’s almost impossible to think about tennis without thinking about Rolex.”
Mar 23, 2025; Miami, FL, USA; Alexandra Eala (PHI) reacts after winning a point against Madison Keys (USA)(not pictured) on day six of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium.
May 24, 2025

Alex Eala Is Defying Her Country’s Odds to Make French Open History

The Philippines native has overcome a unique set of financial odds.
May 24, 2025

Indiana Is the Center of the Basketball Universe—Thanks to Both Pro Teams

The Fever and Pacers are thriving at the same time.

MSG Tickets for Potential Pacers-Knicks Game 7 Start at $1,100

The current get-in price for a potential Game 7 is $1,099.
Sha'Carri Richardson
May 29, 2025

Sha’Carri Richardson Enters Track Start-Up Fray With Alexis Ohanian

Richardson headlines a group of “advisor owners” with equity in the league.
Oct 26, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) injures left shoulder whilte attempt to steal second base in the seventh inning against the New York Yankees during game two of the 2024 MLB World Series at Dodger Stadium.
May 29, 2025

Yankees-Dodgers Clash Draws TV Spotlight, Sky-High Prices

The teams’ lone regular-season series features three nationally aired games.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

In Episode 7 of Portfolio Players, go inside the boardroom with Avenue Capital CEO and former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry on Giannis’s future, women’s sports, and upstart leagues like TGL and Unrivaled. 
May 29, 2025

Panthers Clinch Stanley Cup Final Appearance, Stir Up Dynasty Talk

The Panthers clinched a third-straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
May 29, 2025

NCAA Exploring March Madness Expansion to 76 Teams in 2026

NCAA president Charlie Baker said March Madness discussions are ongoing.
Softball
May 29, 2025

MLB Makes Eight-Figure Investment in New Softball League 

Athletes Unlimited and Major League Baseball announced the deal Thursday morning.
May 25, 2025; MONACO; McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown at Circuit de Monaco.
May 28, 2025

F1’s Monaco GP Draws Third-Largest U.S. Audience Amid Track Criticisms

F1 will race in Monaco until at least 2031.